just a few questions

Question
Hi Denise,
sorry to keep pestering you but i have a few questions, and wonderd if you can help.I'v read so many books over the last 6 months but its not until now i'v realised when it comes to reality there's so much books dont tell you(or i'v been reading the wrong books.LOL)right hope your ready for this, first bella did'nt wont to sleep with the pups last night(well she was'nt sure what she wonted to do)so i put a hot water bottle in with them,but is it not to early for her to be leaving them.secondly one for my pups has put 1oz on in 48 hours is this ok i no they should double there birth weight in the first week,also bella keeps sitting on them,i no she is proberly trying to hide them,an hope she only does this when she thinks there's a threat they do wriggle their way out,but could she kill them by doing this an is there anything i can do.next she's not realy eating she was being realy fussy anyway only eating boiled chicken,ham,hard boiled egg,an a tiny bit of cheese,wont touch any form of dog food but never has realy(too spoilt)but today she's turning her nose up at everything,she is drinking,some water but mainly goats milk,is there an amount of milk she can have or can i give it to her as she wont's,and have you any tempting food idears,also she seem's to still be panting some of the time, and is or was constipated(very hard)anything i can give her.Or do you think a trip to the vet may be called for,but that will realy stress her out. I think that covers everything(for now)thanks so much you and this websit have been my rock over the last week

Answer
Hi Donna:

Yes, it's true that web sites & books will only go into so much detail & things can be too textbook as far as info goes. Most breeders have their own way of handling certain situations, diets, etc so a lot of this will be opinion! OK, she had the litter on June 1st, if I remember correctly? So they're about two-three days old. In my opinion, a puppy that age can't gain too much so don't fret over the gain. It is a bit rapid but they'll gain steadily in spurts & baby steps, just like kids. A lot of new mothers tend to sit or lie on their puppies - 99% of the time the puppy can wiggle free or alert her to move but the realism is puppies DO sometimes get smothered. The older they get the less likely this scenario. When this happens, help to teach her to react by physically moving her & then praise her profusely. This is why I keep a baby monitor next to my bed & the other next to the whelping box - that way I can hear if a puppy is in distress.

As for Miss Spoiled's diet <sigh> we reap what we sow. If she's been fed little goodies until now she's got you wrapped around her paw! LOL Water is the most important. I would dilute the goat's milk with water so that hopefully she'll still be tempted enough to drink a lot of it. I'd cease feeding it to her straight if possible. You may not need to even mix it into her food if she'll drink enough when mixed with water. The meats are fine but I'd mix it with plain boiled rice and/or some puppy kibble so that hopefully she'll eat at least some of that too. It's perfectly normal for her to pant some for several days after whelping. She will leave them for spells - generally, the older they get she'll make more and longer trips away from them but should return to them about every hour or two for nursing & cleaning. As for other food ideas, I really like Sojos from Sojourner Farms - it's a dried dog food base into which you mix your own meat. My dogs LOVE it & it's a wonderful array of healthy ingredients. See www.sojos.com for their info.

For the constipation/hard stool, feed her some plain canned pumpkin (not spiced pie filling) about twice a day until it's a better consistency & then once every day or every other day for prevention. About a spoonful at a time should do the trick.